- Psalm 27:13-14 -
I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.
___________________________________________________________________________-
"The ability to calm your soul and wait before God is one of the most
difficult
things in the Christian life. Our old nature is restless; the world around
us is
frantically in a hurry. But a restless heart heart usually leads to a
reckless
life."
- Warren Wiersbe
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December 9th - St. Peter Fourier
Parish Priest of Mattaincourt
Reformer of the Canons of Saint Augustine
Founder of the Canonesses of Notre Dame
(1565-1640)
This priest of God was consecrated to Him before and at his birth by his
pious
parents, who destined their eldest son for the altars. His aptitude for
study,
his high stature and beauty added the gifts of nature to those of grace.
The
young man was noted in particular for his devotion to the Mother of God
and his
great modesty. It was a surprise to all when he chose to consecrate
himself to
God in a religious Order which at that time had degenerated from its
original
fervor, that of the Canons of Saint Augustine. He made application for
entrance
into the Abbey of Chaumouzey, founded in 1094, situated a short distance
from
his native village of Mirecourt in Lorraine. There he made the traditional
vows
of poverty, chastity and obedience in 1587, and was ordained a priest in
February of 1589.
Before saying his first Mass he passed several months of retreat in the
exercises of prayer, penance and tears. He was then sent to complete his
theological studies at the university of Pont-au-Mousson, also in
Lorraine.
There Father Jean Fourier, a relative who was Rector of that University,
directed him admirably. His progress in virtue and the sacred sciences
placed
him high in the opinion of the Cardinal of Lorraine and Bishop of Metz,
who
desired to have him in his diocese; he offered him a parish where his
talents
would bring him advancement. But the young priest, wi****ng to flee all
honors,
declined, to return to his Abbey.
There hell instigated against him a persecution; he was the brunt of
raillery,
threats, and intrigues, and an effort was made to poison him, which did
not
succeed. For two years he lived in the midst of contradictions without
complaining in any way to his abbot, who seemed unaware of what was
happening;
he increased in patience and kindness towards his persecutors. Eventually
he was
again offered a choice of three parishes, two of which would provide
op****tunity
for advancement, while the third was in a village regarded as incorrigible
and
backward. It was the last one that he chose. The people there were
prosperous
but more than indifferent to religion. The Sacraments were neglected and
the
feast days profaned; the altars were bare and the church was deserted when
he
arrived.
He began by visiting families and assembling two or three of them to talk
to
them of the truths of the faith. He did not go to the banquets which
followed
funerals and weddings, save to offer the prayer of blessing or make a
short
exhortation. He did not accept a housekeeper, even when his own stepmother
offered to assist him. He prayed for the greater part of every night, and
never
refused to go where he was called, at any time or in any season. So little
did
he need for himself that he was able to give alms and assistance to the
poor. He
prayed before Jesus on the altar: "You are the principal parish priest, I
am
only Your vicar. And permit me to say to You, with all the humility of my
heart,
that You are under obligation to make succeed what I cannot."
He desired to remedy the evils of the times by forming children to virtue;
and
Providence soon brought to him several young women who offered themselves
for
the instruction of young girls. Within the space of only a few years, six
schools were founded in the region, and before he died, about forty.
Blessed
Alice LeClerc was the first Sister and first Superior of the Canonesses of
Notre
Dame, dedicated to the education of young women. For this purpose Saint
Peter
was obliged to confide his parish to his vicar for a time, to journey and
obtain
the various permissions and assistance necessary; but it was God's work
and all
efforts succeeded.
His own parish was gradually being transformed into a model, and priests
came to
visit it. One of them re****ted to his bishop the marvels of devotion he
had seen
in Mattaincourt, and said he had asked the parish priest where he had
studied;
Saint Peter had answered that he had "studied in the fourth" -
corresponding in
America to about the ninth grade. Astonished, the visitor was yet more so
when
he learned that this modest priest had certainly studied in the fourth, as
he
had said, but out of horror for vainglory had wanted to dissimulate his
years of
higher studies.
The bishops were asking him to visit their parishes to preach missions
where
needed; the holy priest obeyed, amid his increasing tears and penance, as
he
perceived the vices and ignorance of the populations. He also was
concerned to
reestablish the discipline and fervor of his own Order, an effort which
had
failed several times. But in 1621 the Bishop of Toul, Monsignor de
****celets,
entrusted this work to Father Fourier. A house was found to begin the
Reform,
the vacant ancient Abbey of Saint Remi, and six excellent subjects were
sent
there under his direction. In four years, eight houses of the Order had
adopted
the Reform. A General Superior was named; for a time Father Fourier was
able to
avoid that office, but when the good Superior died, he was obliged to
accept its
functions. Attacked by the devil, his influence distorted by calumnies,
Saint
Peter's only response was to spread everywhere devotion to the Immaculate
Conception of the Blessed Virgin. More than two centuries before the
Miraculous
Medal in 1830 and the proclamation of the dogma in 1854, he saw to the
distribution of large quantities of a medal he had struck, on which were
engraved the words: "Mary was conceived without sin".
Saint Peter Fourier died in exile as an effect of the difficulties and
political
problems of the 1630's; he found shelter in a province which was at that
time
under the Spanish crown, and there he died in 1640. His spiritual sons,
his
spiritual daughters, the good people of Gray in Bourgogne, who had
welcomed him
and whom he had served admirably during an epidemic of the pestilence, all
wanted the honor of possessing his mortal remains. But so did also the
parish of
Mattaincourt. To the reformed Order of Saint Augustine this privilege was
granted officially, but the pious women of Mattaincourt, blocking the
church
door, would not permit the Canons to resume their journey with the coffin,
after
they had stopped in his former parish for a day or so. His heart had
already
been left to the parish of Gray. Miracles have abounded at his tomb, as
they did
during his lifetime, by his prayers. He was canonized by Pope Leo XIII in
1897.
Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin
(Bloud et
Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 14.
Saint Quote
Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other
sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under
my
protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What
else
do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything.
-Our Lady to Juan Diego, 9 December 1531
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A prayer from the Gelasian Sacramentary, 5th century:
O God, Who art the Author of peace and Lover of concord,
in knowledge of Whom standeth our eternal life,
Whose service is perfect freedom;
defend us Thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies,
that we, surely trusting in Thy defense,
may not fear the power of any adversaries,
through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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